Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology (SNIP)
19th Scientific Conference
Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza
San Juan, PR
April 3-6, 2013
Previous Conferences:1993 Toronto Hilton, Canada; 1994 Breakers, Palm Beach, FL; 1995 Bristol Court, San Diego, CA; 1996 Caribe Hilton, San Juan, PR; 1997 Opryland Hotel, Nashville TN; 1998 Scottsdale Princess, Scottsdale, AR; 2000 NIH Mazur Auditorium, Bethesda MD; 2001 Emory University, Atlanta, GA; 2002 Clearwater Beach Hilton, Clear Water, FL; 2004, La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe, NM; 2005 Clearwater Beach Hilton, Clear Water, FL; 2006 La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe, NM; 2007 City Center Marriott Hotel, Salt Lake City, UT; 2008 Francis Marion Hotel, Charleston, SC; 2009 Pearl Plaza Howard Johnson, Wuhan, China; 2010 Manhattan Beach Marriott, Manhattan Beach, CA; 2011 Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort, Clear Water Beach, FL; 2012 Hawaii Prince Hotel, Honolulu, HI
Table of contents
Title Page1
Table of Contents2
Twenty Years of SNIP3
Acknowledgement of Special Contributors and Sponsors4
The SNIP Council, Officials, and Committees5-6
Annual Society Awards7
2013 Early Career Investigator Travel Awardees8-9
2013 Plenary Speakers10-11
SNIP Administrative Meetings12
Scientific Program
WednesdayApril 3, 2013
Opening Reception13
Poster Session 1Young Investigators Session13-19
ThursdayApril 4, 2013
Plenary Lecture 1Benjamin Chen, M.D., Ph.D.19
Symposium INeuroimmune Activation by Alcohol, Drugs and or AIDS Contributes to Addiction Neurobiology 19-20
Plenary Lecture 2Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, Ph.D.20
Meet the Mentors Luncheon20
SNIP Annual Business Meeting20
Symposium IIEmerging Trends in Substance Abuse, HIV Infection and Neuropathogenesis 20-21
Poster Session 2General Session21-28
FridayApril 5, 2013
JNIP Editorial Board Meeting28
Plenary Lecture 3Jon M. Lindstrom, Ph.D.28
Symposium IIIPhysiological and Pathological Role of Nicotinic Receptors 28
Plenary Lecture 4Bert t’ Hart, Ph.D.28
Symposium IVAnimal Models of HIV infection and Drug Abuse Session 29
Early Career Investigators Grant Writing Workshop Session29
Bill Narayan LectureAvi Nath, M.D.29
Symposium VCannabinoids, HIV Pathogenicity, and Other Infectious Disease Processes 29-30
SaturdayApril 6, 2013
Plenary Lecture 5Tariq Rana, Ph.D.30
Symposium VINeuropathology of HIV in an Aging Population30
Symposium VIIEarly Career Investigator Symposium31
Future Perspective – NeuroAIDS, Substance Abuse Think Tank31
Symposium VIIIHIV, Drug Abuse, and NeuroImmune Pharmacology Research in Puerto Rico 31-32
Banquet and Awards Ceremony32
List of Conference Participants33-40
Hotel Conference Area Maps41
Twenty Years of SNIP
By Bob Donahoe
A BRIEF HISTORY: In San Juan we proudly celebrate twenty years of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology (SNIP). The first Conference that led to the formation of SNIP was held in Toronto, in 1993. It was initially conceptualized and organized at a meeting of the Committee (now College) on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) in Keystone, CO, in 1992.
CPDD had been sponsoring posters and symposia on immunopharmacology (IP) since 1984. By the 1992 meeting, interest in IP had grown tremendously and for the first time CPDD scheduled two symposia on the topic. Attendance approached 90 scientists. Upon exiting the second symposium, excitement among attendees was palpable. Animatedly, Dr. Burt Sharp began chatting up the idea: “We need to hold our own meetings.” That evening, in John Madden’s condo, a working group (Drs. Burt Sharp, John Madden, Bob Donahoe, Marty Adler, Toby Eisenstein, Tom Rogers, Tom Klein and Jean Bidlack) met to effect such an effort. The proposal evolved to organize a satellite meeting the following year with CPDD in Toronto. Marty Adler, being the Executive Secretary of CPDD, spearheaded the joint-meeting arrangements. John Madden and Burt Sharp, working with guidance from Dr. Charles Sharp from the NIDA program office, obtained a NIDA-sponsored R13 Grant to help support this first ‘SNIP’ meeting, and especially to support expenses of jury-selected young investigator travel awardees (YITAs) to the meeting.
Several subsequent satellite conferences were held with CPDD and one with Neuroscience. In 2000, ‘SNIP’s’ first ‘independent’ meeting was held at NIH. The high attendance there encouraged talk among the working group and other ‘regulars’ to consider forming, “Our own society.” In the fall of 2000, Bob Donahoe organized a meeting to initiate a new society in the office of Burt Sharp at the University of Tennessee, College of Medicine, in Memphis. Attending were Bob, Burt, John Madden and Rick Weber (photo below). With communicated input from the working group, they set the groundwork for a society—choosing the SNIP name by a vote of the principals involved, which included, Phil Peterson, Tom Klein, Tom Rogers, Jean Bidlack and Toby Eisenstein. Interim officers were chosen. Corporate papers were filed and tax-exempt status obtained. An R13 grant application was funded to hold the first official SNIP conference at Emory University in Atlanta, in 2001. There, the first society officers were elected. Notably, the SNIP Treasury was initially financed through the generous personal contributions of a group of 40 Charter Members, to whom all SNIP members are indebted.
[An in-depth history of SNIP is at: .]
SNIP CHARTER MEMBERS: Martin Adler, Barbara Bayer, Jean Bidlack, Guy Cabral, Linda Chang, Sulie Chang, Paul Cheney, Ronald Chuang, Robert Donahoe, Toby Eisenstein, Howard Fox, Herman Friedman, Clair Gaveriaux-Ruff, Karl Goodkin, Steve Henriksen, John Holliday, Thomas Jerrells, Norbert Kaminski, Steve Keller, Tom Klein, Mahendra Kumar, Donald Lysle, John Madden, Fred Marsteller, Bonnie Miller, Tom Molitor, Madhaven Nair, Avindra Nath, Phillip Peterson, Fernando Renaud, Thomas Rogers, Sabita Roy, Walter Royal, Burt Sharp, Charles Sharp, Pravin Singhal, Mohan Sopori, George Stefano, Richard Weber, James Zadina
Acknowledgements
The Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology expresses its deep appreciation for the contributions made by so many individuals and institutions in support of this 19th SNIP Scientific Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The scientific program was developed by the Ad Hoc Meetings Committee chaired by Sabita Roy, Phil Peterson, and Shilpa Buch. Special thanks go to the Meeting Organizer, Bob Donahoe, and to the local organizing committee: Loyda Melendez and Richard Noel (co-chairs) and members Vanessa Rivera, Valerie Wojna, and Annabell Segarra.
Sponsors and Contributors
The Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology (SNIP) sincerely thanks following sponsors who have generously contributed to different activities during 19th Society of NeuroImmune Pharmacology Meeting.
- National Institute on Alcohol and Alcoholism $15,000
To support Symposium #1 (Neuroimmune Activation Contributes to Addiction Neurobiology) and Travel Scholarship to support young investigators involved in alcohol research.
- National Institute of Mental Health $7000
Partial sponsorship of Symposium #6: (Neuropathology of HIV-1 in an Aging Population)
- Department of Surgery-Basic and Translation Division, University of Minnesota Medical School $6000
Partial sponsorship of Reception
- Institute of Neuroimmune Pharmacology and Center for Personalized Nano Medicine, HW College of Medicine, FIU $5000
Graduate trainee associated expenses, partial sponsorship of Early Career Investigator Lunch
- Dr. Brian Wigdahl, Drexel University $5,000
Partial sponsorship of Early Career Investigator Lunch
- Dr. Pravin Singhal$3,000
Early Career Investigator Travel Award
- Drs. Howard Fox /Shilpa Buch $5,000
Bill Narayan Memorial Lecture
- Drs. Tom Molitor /Sabita Roy $2,500
Grants Writing Workshop Lunch
- Dr. Jose Lasalde, Vice President for Research & Technology, University of Puerto Rico$2,000
Program Book Printing
- Dr. Kenira Thompson, Dean for Research, Ponce School of Medicine$1,000
Partial sponsorship of Early Career Investigator Lunch
2012-2013 Council, Officials & Committees
Page 1
Sabita Roy, Ph.D.
President
Professor of Surgery & Director, Division of Infection, Inflammation & Vascular Biology
University of Minnesota Academic Health Center, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Howard S. Fox, MD, Ph.D.
President Elect
Professor
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-5800
Guy A. Cabral, Ph.D.
Past President
Professor, Microbiology and Immunology
Chair, Graduate Program Committee Virginia
Commonwealth University
School of Medicine
Richmond, VA 23298
Shilpa Buch
Secretary
Professor and Vice Chair
Research Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-5880
Anil Kumar Ph.D.
Treasurer
Chair and Professor
Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology
UMKC School of Pharmacy
Kansas City, MO 64108
Anuja Ghorpade, Ph.D.
Council Member
Membership Committee Chair
Professor and Chair Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy
University of North Texas Health Science
Fort Worth, TX, 76107
Sulie L. Chang, Ph.D.
Council Member
Meetings Committee Chair
Professor and Director
Institute of Neuroimmune Pharmacology
Seton Hall University
South Orange, NJ 07079
Sanjay Maggirwar, Ph.D.
Council Member
Communications Committee Chair
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, NY 14642
Kurt F. Hauser, Ph.D.
Council Member
Professor
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Virginia Commonwealth Univ. School of Med.
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0613
Linda Chang MD
Council Member
Professor of Medicine
John A. Burns School of Medicine
University of Hawaii at Manoa
The Queen's Medical Center
Honolulu, Hawaii 90095-7363
Wenzhe Ho, MD M.Ph.
Council Member
Professor, Dept. Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Dept. Anatomy and Cell Biology
Temple University School of Medicine
3500 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140
Michal Toborek, MD, Ph.D.
Council Member
Professor and Vice-Chair for Research
Dept of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Miami School of Medicine
Miami, FL 33136
Christoph Stein, MD
Council Member, International
Direktor
Klinik für Anaesthesiologie und Operative Intensivmedizin
Freie Universität Berlin, Benjamin Franklin, Hindenburgdam 30 D-12200 Berlin
Prati Pal Singh, Ph.D.
Council Member, International
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, In-Charge, Centre of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research
Punjab, India
Robert M. Donahoe, Ph.D.
Conference Director
Adjunct Professor
Department of Pathology,
University of Utah, School of Medicine
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Santosh Kumar, Ph.D.
Early Career Investigator Committee Chair
Assistant Professor
Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Kansas City, MO 64108
Howard E. Gendelman, MD
Ex Officio, Editor-in-Chief, JNIP
Larson Professor of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases
Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-5880
Pravin C. Singhal, MD
Ad hoc Member
Director, Renal Research Molecular Laboratory
Professor of Medicine, Hofstra North Shore LIJ Medical School,
Great Neck, NY 11021
Page 1
Page 1
Executive Committee
President: Sabita Roy
President elect: Howard Fox
Secretary: Shilpa Buch
Treasurer: Anil Kumar
Past President: Guy Cabral
Meetings Committee
Sulie L. Chang, Chair; Michael Roth, Linda Chang
Ad Hoc Meetings Committee
Co-Chairs: Sabita Roy, Phil Peterson, Shilpa Buch; Guy Cabral, Howard Fox, Anil Kumar, Marcus Kaul, Pravin Singhal, Richard Noel, Michael Toborek, Kelly Jordan- Sciutto, Bob Donahoe, Santosh Kumar
Early Career Investigator Committee
Santosh Kumar, Chair; Michael Nonnemacher, Sylvia Kiertscher, Vanessa Rivera Amill, Prasun K Datta, James Haorah, Samikkannu Thangavel, Tom Molitor, Anuja Ghorpade, Rosemarie Booze, Wenzhe Ho, Shao-Jun Tang, Walter Royal, Loyda Melendez
Communications Committee
Sanjay B. Maggirwar, Chair; Rosemarie Booze, Shilpa Buch, Anil Kumar, Larisa Poluektova, Mohan Sopori
Membership Committee
Anuja Ghorpade, Chair; Norbert Kaminski, Patricia Molina, Jialin Zheng
Finance and Audit Committee
Anil Kumar, Chair; Linda Chang, Bob Donahoe
Election Nominating Committee
Shilpa Buch, Chair; Howard Fox, Guy Cabral, Sabita Roy, Anil Kumar
Society Awards Committee
Howard Fox, Chair; Yuri Persidsky, Tom Klein, Lena Al-Harthi, Peter Gaskill
Journal Publications Committee
Sabita Roy, Chair; Guy Cabral, Howard Fox
Public Relations Committee
Sabita Roy, Chair; Bob Donahoe, Phil Peterson, Clair Gaveriaux-Ruff, Howard Fox
Annual Society Awards
Each year the Society recognizes a few of its members who have exemplified unique qualities of leadership, service and/or scholarship on behalf of the Society and its mission. The following awards are bestowed annually.
Herman Friedman Founders Award
For Visionary Contributions in the Establishment and Continued Development of the Society
This award is named in honor of Herman Friedman, PhD, a man who promoted the study of drugs of abuse, infections, and immunity, promoted meetings among scientists based on this theme, and was a founding member of the Society. He passed away in 2007. This award recognizes individuals whose contribution to SNIP was visionary and served as a key to the founding of the Society and/or its continued development and perpetuation.
Distinguished Services Award
For Extraordinary Service to Society and to the Accomplishment of its Mission
The Distinguished Services Award recognizes an individual whose efforts and commitment to the society has been both consistent and exemplary over protracted years of service.
Outstanding Service And Support Award
For Extraordinary Service to Society and to the Accomplishment of its Mission
This award is given in recognition of individuals who are not necessarily investigators or members, but who have provided extraordinary service in facilitating the operation of Society initiatives. Examples would include individuals who often work “behind the scenes” to facilitate the Society by work on its publications, fundraising, and/or in the organization or conduct of meetings and symposia.
Wybran Award
For Extraordinary Contributions that Help to Integrate the Fields of NeuroImmunology, Drugs Of Abuse, and Immunity to Infection
Joseph Wybran, MD, was trained in Immunology and worked for some time in the USA before returning to his Brussels home. He was a seminal contributor through the 1970s and into the 1980s to the integration of the fields of neuroimmunology, drugs of abuse and immunity to infection. As a measure of the impact that his science had on the field of neuroimmune pharmacology, his seminal paper published in the Journal of Immunology 1979 regarding the ability of endogenous and exogenous opioids to modulate T cell rosette formation in a naloxone reversible way was the most cited research article through the early 1980s. He was killed, presumably, by terrorists reacting to his leadership and participation in Jewish causes. He was shot in his car in the parking lot of his work, October 3, 1989 in Brussels. Sadly, this tragedy occurred at the peak of Joe’s career. The Wybran Award was created to memorialize Joe’s scientific prestige in the area of neuroimmune pharmacology. It is meant, most particularly, to serve as a remembrance of his leading contributions that underpin SNIP. The Wybran Award is the highest honor bestowed by SNIP in recognition of the very best scientific contributions that have resulted in the preservation and expansion of the field of Neuroimmune Pharmacology.
Early Career Investigator Travel Award Winners 2013
In order to promote interest in the field of Neuroimmune Pharmacology and to recognize the excellent work being done by Early Career investigators in this field, the Society provides Early Career Investigator Travel Awards (ECITA) to graduate students and post-doctorate trainees (within 5 years of Ph.D.) working with a SNIP Member and seeking funds to attend the annual conference of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology. For the 2013 SNIP Scientific Conference, a total of 66 abstracts were submitted. Of which 22 graduate students and 13 post-doctorate fellows were awarded. Of these 35 awardees, 9 awards were conferred to students and post-doctorate fellows working in alcohol-related research and these awards were sponsored by NIAAA. The ECITA awards were made in 3 categories: $750+registration waiver, $500+registration waiver, and $500. In addition, 6 students who were among the top candidates were awarded with “Certificate for Excellence”. However, they were not given travel awards because they were the 3rd candidates from the same mentor. Finally, the top 3 from each graduate student post-doctorate fellow categories were selected for symposium presentation.
ECITA Awardees / Mentor / UniversityPre-Doctoral
Amma, AB / Dash, CV / Meharry Medical CollegeBertrand, SJ / Booze, RM / University of South Carolina
Cao, L / Kumar, A / University of Missouri- Kansas City
Chen, Q / Zheng, JC / University of Nebraska Medical Center
Cisneros, I / Ghorpade, A / University of North Texas Health Science Center
Coley, JS / Berman, JW / Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Festa, L / Meucci, O / Drexel University College of Medicine
Gangwani, MR / Kumar, A / University of Missouri- Kansas City
Liu, X / Kumar, A / University of Missouri- Kansas City
Loucil, R / Noel, Jr, RJ / Ponce School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Mamik, MK / Ghorpade, A / University of North Texas Health Science Center
Meng, J / Roy, S / Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Moran, LM / Mactutus, CF / University of South Carolina
Sen, S / Amini, S / Temple University School of Medicine
Shah, A / Kumar, A / University of Missouri- Kansas City
Sindberg, GM / Roy, S / University of Minnesota
Strazza, M / Nonnemacher, M / Drexel University College of Medicine
Vartak, N / Ghorpade, A / University of North Texas Health Science Center
Wang, Y / Zheng, JC / University of Nebraska Medical Center
Williams, DW / Berman, JW / Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Yang, L / Buch, S / University of Nebraska Medical Center
Zhou, Y / Ho, WZ / Temple University School of Medicine
Post-Doctoral
Ashutosh, F / Ghorpade, A / UNT Health Science Center
Castro, V / Toborek, M / University of Miami
Kiebala, M / Maggirwar, SB / University of Rochester
Lan, X / Singhal, PC / Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
Ma, J / Roy, S / University of Minnesota
Mantri, SK / Dash, CV / Meharry Medical College
Pilakka-Kanthikeel, S / Nair, M / Florida International University
Wang, YZ / Ho, WZ / Temple University School of Medicine
Zhao, L / Zheng, JC / University of Nebraska Medical Center
ECITA-alcohol Awardees / Mentor / University
Pre-Doctoral
Ande, A / Kumar, S / University of Missouri- Kansas City
Fergoson, LB / Harris, RA / University of Texas, Austin
Franklin, T / Sarkar, DK / Rutgers University
Gofman, L / Potula, R / Temple University School of Medicine
Parikh, N / Wigdahl, B / Drexel University College of Medicine
Teng, S / Molina, P / Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
Post-Doctoral
Agudelo , M / Nair, M / Florida International University
Bethel-Brown, C / Buch, S / University of Nebraska Medical Center
Vetreno, RP / Crew, FT / University of North Carolina, Chaper Hill
The SNIP recognizes the service of ECITA committee members (Drs. S. Kumar (Chair), Booze, Datta, Ghorpade, Haorah, Ho, Kiertscher, Meléndez, Molitor, Nonnemacher, Royal, Tang, Thangavel, and Rivera), and thank them for their wonderful job in reviewing the ECITA applications. Professor Arthur Falek, of Emory University, who passed away in 2005, was widely known for his mentorship. In 1982, he was the first recipient of a NIDA grant in the field of NeuroImmune Pharmacology. He held grants in this area of research for 20 more years, until his retirement in 2002. He was an early and ever enthusiastic promotor of SNIP and Early Career Investigators. Accordingly, the ECITA awards are tendered in his honor.